Racism

Racism is an overriding theme with McCall spending the majority of his life seeking a way to fit in to the "mainstream" in which whites hold most of the supervisory positions. McCall begins dealing with the racism as a child and it's made clear when a girl in his neighborhood is killed during a drive-by shooting. As McCall ages and shows scholastic potential, he's enrolled in a traditionally white junior high with the idea that he can get a better education. Instead, he's tormented by the whites until his mother realizes the extent of the torture and puts him in a predominantly black school.

One of the most incredible points of racism pointed out by McCall is his sentence for shooting Plaz, another young black boy who has disrespected McCall's girlfriend and prompted a fight. When McCall confronts the boy and shoots him at point blank range, he's...